Every once in a while an interesting set of facts get put together in a somewhat entertaning manner – this video is one of them.

I read this wonderful post on SEO Design Solutions, one of my favorite feeds.

Websites do not optimize themselves, but knowing what to expect is instrumental prior to embarking on the journey of targeting competitive keyword verticals.

1. It takes time: Like anything worthwhile, good things come to those who wait? Of course while you’re waiting, you could always spend money on PPC if you are impatient. Cost for cost (SEO pricing vs. PPC) is all about cost to value received, SEO is an investment while PPC is just like paying rent. Sure, they both drive traffic, but one is far more sustainable than the other (providing less risk and greater reward).
2. You may have to change a few things: There is a reason why sites that are optimized and ones that are not rank differently. It’s all about the continuity of purpose that unifies each page in a site for a particular purpose with optimization and the best sites only have minor differences on the outside. It is what occurs on the level of site architecture, naming conventions, meta tags and internal links that can rank of tank a site, so don’t be surprised if some pages don’t make the SEO grade and need a slight makeover to change things up.
3. Monitor the baseline: You need to know where you’re at, to understand where you’re going. What metrics matter most? The answer is simple, traffic and conversion, but more importantly more relevant traffic and using a diversity of related semantic content to target a market and not just a few keywords.
4. There is no such thing as too much Keyword Research: Keep in mind that what is relevant and hot today, may be yesterday’s news tomorrow. There is no such thing as too much keyword research, so dig deep into trends while improving traction for your markets root phrases and lucrative two and three word keyword combinations.
5. Understand the value of perpetual momentum: Once a site gains a significant foothold in a niche or market, the barrier to entry lessens. Specifically the more related and overlapping keywords surrounding a contextual array of phrases you optimize for, the better. Each page optimized for 3 distinct keywords can translate into dozens of keywords if a website has authority. The more authority a website has, then the less you have to concern yourself with optimizing for keywords, just the mere fact that someone searched for a related phrase or keyword that happens to exist on some page in your website, if you have more authority then your site can outrank your competitors based on the degree of trust it has acquired.

For many years I lived in South Florida and for many years, while I was there, I often visited the Riverwalk in Ft Lauderdale.  If you’re not familiar with the area, it’s a busy street of shops, bars, restaurants along the New River in Broward County.  There are usually several bands playing, lots of folks walking their dogs, birds, lizards, whatever (you know South Florida – it’s crazy down there!).  Anyway, the Riverwalk was always one of the very best things to do in Ft Lauderdale.

Just the other day a friend of mine told me that the restaurants in that area are closed.  During this “snow bird season” the Riverwalk is normally filled with people, music and entertainers.  But, as she walked there last Saturday, there were just a handful of people walking around.  Many shops were closed, almost all the restaurants were shut down.

Of course that news saddened me and it also surprised me a bit because I didn’t realize the impact the recession has had on that economy.  Now that I live in Atlanta, I just don’t see the impact of the recession here as much.  Hmm – maybe John Edwards is right about one thing, there really are 2 Americas.

But that story also got me thinking about the new economy.  What are the new customers of tomorrow going to look like?  What will they do?  And more important, what can businesses do today to get ready for those new customers?  After all, no one wants to end up on a quiet street with a “closed” sign on their door!

Jeffrey Gitomer Had An Answer

So, some of you know I’ve recently begun working with a business mentor, John Miller and he’s truly been wonderful.  After 10 years of doing SEO, I’m finally learning some things about actually running a business!  Anyway, John introduced me to Jeffrey Gitomer and an article that he wrote about the “new customer”.  Hmm – guess I’m thinking in the right direction!

But basically, Gitomer goes on in his article talking about what the “new customer” of tomorrow looks like and here are his bullets…

* He’s going to decide somewhat slower. He’s been hesitating for more than a year.
* He’s angry about the value of his home, and the value of his investments.
* He will not be doing business the same way it’s been done before.
* He will not be banking the same way he banked before.
* He will not be advertising the same way he advertised before.
* He will not be buying a car the same way he did before.
* He will not be buying a home the same way he did before.
* He will not be investing the same way he did before.
* He’s online. Checking out your website – and your competitor’s website.
* He’s socializing. Telling everyone what’s happening in his world and the world.
* He’s Tweeting, Facebooking, and Linked-In-ing. Social media is still a firestorm.
* He’s blogging about his experiences with you, for the world to read.
* He’s YouTubing about his experiences with you for the world to watch – by the millions (any questions United Airlines?).
* He’s Googling, not yellow-paging.
* He’s texting. A lot.
* He’s using his mobile device to do damn near everything.
* He’s WiFi-ing in his hotel room, on the plane, in Starbucks, and at home.
* IF he’s reading a paper, or getting the news, it’s online.
* He’s as likely to watch The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, or listen to Howard Stern for news as he is to watch a network “news” person read a tele-prompter.
* He’s purchasing after midnight. By the billions.
* He’s looking for ease of doing business with you.
* He is value oriented, but will look to price as part of the decision.
* He wants a relationship.
* He wants, needs, and expects GREAT service after the sale.
* He does not want to wait for anything or anyone.
* He needs help and expert advice.
* He’s looking for ideas and answers.
* He can check your price and your facts in two seconds or less on Google.
* He knows as much about your product as you do.
* He knows MORE about your competitor’s product than you do.
* He can pay right now IF you can take a credit card online.
* He expects someone to answer the phone when he calls that can actually HELP.
* He is SICK of off-shore call centers, erroneously called “help desks.”
* He is SICK of you telling him how important his call is while he stands on hold.
* He is SICK of your recorded hold message.
* He demands the truth. All the time.
* He no longer trusts the institutions he used to hold sacred.
* He expects you to be as computer literate as he is.
* He needs to be understood and feel your sincere concern.
* While you are qualifying him, he is qualifying you.
* If he needs a referral or recommendation, he’ll go to Craig’s list or Angie’s list or Google or his next door neighbor, or anyone else but you…UNLESS you have video testimonials online.

You can read his entire article here on his facebook.  And it’s an interesting read.

So, go through this list a few times, take it to your next staff meeting (even if it’s at the kitchen table) and make a list.  What is your business doing to meet this “new customer” on his terms?  More importantly, what can your business do to meet this “new customer” on his terms?  Create your to-do list and start right away.  Because in my opinion, that new customer is already here.

The future world of customers is rapidly changing and as a business owner, you MUST keep up.  I know, technology has taken over our lives and our businesses but in many ways, it’s still in the first stages.  We’re still in the “model T” era of integrating computers and technology into our businesses.  This video below is just one example:

What Cisco is trying to tell you with their “borderless business” concept is that growing your business in the future means integrating technology into your business today.  And integrating technology in such a way that the possibilities are seemingly endless.

It’s really all about bringing people and ideas together.  No matter where you are on the planet, technology can bring you two together.  So, it doesn’t matter what you do or sell, if you can establish yourself as an expert in your field, you will be sought out.  By everyone searching for your expertise.

Your customers are changing because they’re getting smarter.  They’re learning everyday more and more about how to conduct searches on the Internet.  How to use social media for reviews and background checks, (well, sort of background checks).  They’re doing what their parents did at business chamber meetings, they’re listening to what others are saying about you only this generation is doing the majority of the listening online.  Via emails, blogs and other social media venues, they’re listening.

So, as a small business owner, your job to keep up with all of this is to establish yourself as an expert in your field AND make yourself available via multiple venues.  Here’s how you can accomplish this and build your business.

1) Showcase what you know via a blog.  Use that blog to “talk” to your customers.  Tell them what you’re up to, what the company is up to, what the industry is up to.  Give them facts and details but keep the information as informal and “laymen” as possible.  The idea isn’t to dazzle them with fancy words, the idea is to dazzle them with what you can do for them.

2) Make yourself known through social media.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and now Google’s Buzz are all the rage.  Why?  Because they’re easy to use.  Quick, fast and filled with tons of information about individuals, companies and much more.  Your customers will get to know you and your company.

3) Invite others to follow you, join you, listen to you, etc.  If you’re taking the time to use social media then flaunt it.  Place your social media icons everywhere.  On your email signature, in your website, everywhere!  Get folks to follow you, listen to you.  They are your greatest assets.

Long tail keyword phrases are one of the very best SEO tools available. If your SEO webmaster is not utilizing long tail keyword phrases, you may be missing out on a very important segment of your target audience.

You see, long tail keyword phrases are usually the most profitable phrases because they are most often being typed in by Internet users who are ready to make the purchase.

Think about it. When you begin a search you begin (usually) with a general phrase and the more information you learn about what you want or need, the more specific phrases you type in. The long tail phrase is that specific phrase.

I took a look at the statistics for several websites that our SEO Firm is marketing and here are the results…

The 6 keyword phrases that converted 100% for Atlantis Plumbing were…
1) ga underground leak detection
2) plumbers in douglasville
3) plumbing leak detection marietta ga
4) polybutylene piping lawsuits
5) water main pinhole leak
6) water pipe excavation

The 5 keyword phrases that converted 100% for Certified Windows and Doors were…
1) hurricane proof sliding glass windows
2) hurricane window contractors broward county florida
3) manufactures in pompano bch fl
4) pgt approved south florida contractors
5) windows and doors miami

The 5 keyword phrases that converted 100% for Florida Divorce Law Online were…
1) divorce papers lee county fl
2) file for divorce in cape coral florida
3) florida divorce papers
4) limited representation agreement florida divorce
5) divorce lawyer online

This tells me (and it should tell you too) that the kind of people who type in long tail keyword phrases are the kind that are ready to make the purchase.   So, take a look at the keyword phrases your website is marketing.  Are they long tail phrases?

Many of you use Gmail – and you’re in the majority if you do.  You may notice a small change on your Gmail panel.  Right under “Inbox” in the left column you may notice the word “Buzz” – if it’s there, then you have been Buzzed.  You are now able to use Google’s latest social media marketing gadget.

What is Buzz?  Think of it as Google’s very own Twitter.  The benefit is that it’s right there on Gmail.  So, no need to open a separate screen of have a separate account or window open.  Your email, your chats and now your Tweets can all be performed, viewed, responded to right from the Gmail control panel.  Pretty slick.

Will it take over Twitter?  Who knows, it’s anybody’s guess as to what programs will still be in use months from now but one thing is for sure.  The ease of using this new gadget can’t be beat.

If you’ve already been buzzed, feel free to follow me at eckweb@gmail.com.  I’ll post my daily tips, notes and comments about this crazy SEO / Internet Marketing industry and hopefully you’ll find them useful for your own marketing.

Happy Buzzing.

Experimenting here, if I wanted to steal some bandwidth from a website – actually, I suppose my goal would REALLY be to steal the image but not only is it bad enough that I steal the image but the way that I do it, I may compound the bad karma by stealing bandwidth as well.

Usually, when you post an image online it’s something to a local file.  But if you post it directly from the website it came from, like this…

http://www.mauslawfirm.com/images/ad-home.jpg

Then you are stealing bandwidth.

So, as a responsible website owner, webmaster, designer, whatever – what do you do?  Easy.  You enter the following code into your .htaccess file.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?domain\.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteRule .*\.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ /images/stop_stealing_bandwidth.jpe [L]

Create an image and name it stop_stealing_bandwidth.jpe

So, that’s the story on saving bandwidth!

Well, Google is getting closer and closer to our lives.

They give us the world with Google Earth (and beyond I must say) and they give us our neighborhoods with Google Street View but soon, it seems, we may have the inside of our shops and who knows what else?

An article on SearchEngineLand.com gives us an insight into what Google may be planning!  Oh boy, pretty soon, we’ll be able to just go to Google and “shop” the store right from our screens!

Hmm – brings up alot of interesting different scenarios.

So, if you’re a brick and mortar business imagine what it would be like to be “on screen” in Google.  Would you spify up your shop?  Build new displays?  I wonder if you could “invite Google” back for more updated photos?  Well, there will be lots of questions, I’m sure.  And who knows if this idea will even take off but it’s certainly interesting.  Don’t you think?

Your website is up (finally, probably took much longer to create it than you thought!)  The details involved were much more than you ever imagined!  But, it’s finally done and you can begin getting some business from it!

1 week goes by, 1 month, 2 months, 6 months, you’ve received a few emails, 1 sale and lots of spam!  What’s going on?  You have a website, it’s on the Internet, the designer said he would submit it to the search engines.  So, what’s wrong?

As an SEO webmaster and owner of an SEO firm, I can give you some insights.

Problem: Poor website structure
Just because a website is on the Internet, does not mean it’s search engine friendly.  Which means that the way it’s constructed, the coding, the words, where the graphics are, etc. are not easy for the search engines to scan.  If your competition has websites that are more search engine friendly than yours then they will rank higher.

Solution: Be open to the concept that your design may have to be altered.  Consult an seo specialist and they will be able to tell you what needs to be done to the website.  It’s all about HOW the search engines SEES your website.  Of course, it’s important how your visitors see the website too but that’s the fine line seo webmasters walk on.  Creating (often re-creating) websites so that they meet both the needs of the search engines and the desires of the intended target audience.

Problem: Content, content, content
Your website designer may have recommended a copywriter but they are just TOO expensive – so you decide to write the copy for the website pages yourself.  You write about how great your company is and the wonderful services/products you provide, etc.    Are you really capturing the attention of the audience?  Are you capturing what they’re looking for?  Maybe not if the conversion rates from your website pages are low.

Solution: Use the keyword research to outline your website
Many websites are created with the basic, home page, about us page, services page, contact us page, etc.  But the reality is, if you’re marketing your website on the Internet you need to market with the keyword phrases your audience is typing in.

I mean, it’s nice and appropriate to tell your audience about the company, of course (but frankly, you can do that better on facebook, linkedin, etc.).  Anyway, what you should REALLY create pages about are the keyword phrases the audience are typing in.  Think about it, search engines are machines.  All they can do is match up what people type in to the words that are on the website pages.  Of course, there are MANY more variables but this is the basic one.  If your website doesn’t meet this basic rule for the search engines, you may end up spending much more money to market your website.

Problem: The website isn’t working but you don’t know why

Solution: Tracking!  I don’t mean just tracking the number of visitors to the site, I mean tracking each individual website page.  This is done by assigning an “action” to each page.  In other words, what do you want your visitors to do on this particular page?  Go to the contact form?  Go to the “more information” page?

Once you’ve outlined what they should be doing you then begin tracking it.  If the audience is NOT doing what your intention is, why aren’t they?  This is where you begin making changes to the page.  Maybe you need a larger “Do This” graphic, maybe you need more content to direct them to the action, maybe you need to build more trust on the page.  Something has to be done otherwise, the page isn’t working.

If your website is 10 pages in length and only 2 of those 10 pages are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, you’re wasting your money.  All your website pages should be working to bring in visitors and sales.

So, what do you think?  Are you prepared for Internet marketing?  Are you willing to make the necessary changes to your website?  Will you work with your seo firm to continue adding, tweaking and altering your website until it produces the end results?

If your answer is YES, then you will enjoy a profitable relationship with your seo firm.

If your answer is NO, don’t sign the seo contract.  You might be better off doing something more passive like Pay Per Click to market your site.

Either way, know what you’re getting into when you begin your internet marketing campaign.